Friday, August 6, 2010

Friday Night Italian Ice Fight : Luigi vs Lindy

I've kinda had italian ice on the brain since visiting a local italian ice place. Now there are two major italian ice brands around here (well, 3 if you include my boring time with PhillySwirl). Let's get these guys in the ring.

The Contenders

Luigi vs. Lindy

Sorry, we don't have a picture of Luigi, so I had to improvise with the bob dob drawing. Luigi is packing "real Italian ice" while Lindy packs "homemade Italian ice". Luigi is a modest 6 fluid ounces and weighs in at 100 calories and 0 BMI. Lindy is the same 6 fluid ounces but has a slightly beefier 110 calories and 20% of your vitamin C to boot.

Right off the bat, you want to give Luigi the advantage. He's lighter on his feet and not weighed down by high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors (or dextrose or soy lecithin or carrageenan). Ok, you get the idea.

Round 1: Packaging

I definitely like the Luigi's packaging better. Luigi has that bright red cherry Italian ice front and center. I see that and I think "where's my spoon?"

Lindy's packaging just seems dated. Granted, I think that's the idea, but it looks like it hasn't changed in about 20 years. The ice looks flat and boring, and it's not even prominent really. I'm thinking it's time for new artwork.

Here are the actual cups. Luigi's is plain and simple and includes a paper lid. Lindy's is busy, but does include an actual tinfoil seal. Actually, the seal up top makes the container look bigger too.

That seal is a nice touch but overall I have to give this round to the more modern Luigi.

Round 2: Appearance

There isn't much to compare since they are so very similar BUT Luigi's looks alot more official. Lindy's just looks messy like something happened to it or it was lazily made.

Luigi quickly wins this round.

Round 3: Taste

Let's get to the final and most important round, it's tasting time! Be forewarned that I have had both of these treats before in the last two weeks, but this is the first time I am trying them side by side.

Luigi's is up first. It's a muted cherry flavor, almost salty. Muted might not even be the right word since it does linger so much. The cherry taste seems fairly "real", but I'm not sure that's what I want in this particular snack.

Lindy's is up now. It's definitely sweeter, more like a treat (no salty taste here). There is a bit of an unnatural/artificial nature to the taste. Not like nasty fake, it's just that you know that this is made to be a sweet snack and not an actual cherry.

How about texture you say? Luigi's is more dense, more like a sorbet. Lindy's is more icy/crunchy and harder to scoop. You don't need to wait for Luigi's to melt, but a few minutes wouldn't hurt Lindy.

Uh oh, we may have a decisive blow about to be thrown here. Luigi's has a lingering aftertaste, and yes, it's "salty". It certainly doesn't make you want to dive back in for more. Lindy's has a light aftertaste, almost refreshing, leaves you wanting more (wait, is that the opposite of refreshing? can you be refreshing and want more?)

I have a few more bites but it's over for me. Lindy's has taken this round with a knock out. I'm actually eating the Lindy's in hopes of covering up the Luigi's taste.

Post fight wrap up

Luigi fought the good fight, and I know there are plenty of people out there who will prefer his sorbet like texture and more natural flavors, I'm just not one of them. Now we've also recently had Lindy's blue raspberry flavor in the house last week... I would have saved one but my daughter kept calling them cotton candy and helped me polish them off before I snagged a picture, but I think this proves my point. Lindy's is more of a kid friendly, sweeter, freezer pop version of Italian ice.

Luigi's changed their formula or something a few years ago and tastes unbearably nasty to me now. Lindy's tastes like the way Luigi's used to be and is my favorite as well.Everything comes out like solid rock in my freezer so that's less of an issue.

Lindy's is a real italian ices. It is real ice apposed to the sticky gook of most other brands. Lindy's is in my opinion the best store bought Italian ices you can get. Ralph's Italian Ices are the best but you cant get them at the grocery store and are super expensive. Lindy's are near if not as good as Ralphs.

This isnt even a contest. Lindy's destroys Luigi's.We're talking about Italian Ice...not Italian Sorbet. Luigis is hardly considered Italian Ice. Lindy's watermelon is fantastic. Its just unfortunate that they dont sell full boxes of watermelon. They split it in half with the strawberry flavor.

If you let Lindy's sit for 5-10 minutes before eating, the flavor get enhanced.

Love Lindy's orange flavor. It reminds me of when I was a kid (a long, long time ago) and the vendor would could around with his cart selling Italian ice. Loved it then and Lindy's reminds me of that. Wish I could find where to buy it in Connecticut so my sister could get some. I live in Virginia and find it here.

Luigi's Lemon has a bitter aftertaste. I prefer Lindy's but our local stores are no longer carrying it. By the time I get to the closest store I can buy it at it would be long melted on the way home. Boo Hiss!

You have to let Lindy's sit for a few. Our local grocer, Jewel, stopped carrying Lindy's for a subpar-not-even-on-the-same-level Luigi's and I, as well as many Lindy's fans, am disappointed. The textures of Luigi's are off, depending on the flavor. And speaking of which .. Luigi's shouldn't that concoction lemon Italian ice. Whatever that flavor is, it's far from lemon! Bottom line .. no comparison between the two .. Lindy's all the way!

Well im a lugi fan, haven't had italian ice in a couples but today I went grocery shopping and stumble upon lindy's. The box packaging caught my attention so I purchase it. All and all: lindy's is okay and I would buy it again (watermelon, strawberry) but lugi is still a fav of mines ;)

I bought Luigi's once mistaking it for Lindy's. Luigi's isn't Italian ice at all - it has the consistency of sherbet and a gross overpowering chemical taste. Lindy's watermelon actually tastes like real watermelon as opposed to a Jolly Rancher.

Lindy's wins hands down at my house! I get it at Shaw's and before I can even get to the freezer to have oneafter a long,hot day at work,the box of 6 has disappeared! It reminds me of the italian ice I bought from ice cream trucks when I was a kid. Luigi's is OK. It definitely reminds me more of a sorbet. Try Lindy's lemon or orange!

It's all about the ingredients, and the marketing hype. Lindy's is a far more highly processed product. Luigi's does not contain High Fructose Corn Syrup,Dextrose, Lecithin (Soy), Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Carrageen. Luigi's contains NONE of those ingredients

Lindy's is far better than Luigi's. I agree with a previous comment that Luigi's has a funny after taste. Lindy's taste like real Italian ice. Luigi's is a fake. It tastes like frozen rainwater. I used to buy Lindy's all the time at Walt's Food but now they only carry Luigi's. Forget it!

Luigi's kicks Lindy's ICE. The Mango flavor is like a religious figure dropped a magic elixir on your tongue. Scraping it with your spoon, so satisfying. Popping that paper lid off. Lindy's is like trailer trash in comparison.

I agree that Luigi must have changed. The gooey texture is unpleasant and bitter after taste is even worse. I recently rediscovered Lindy after it disappeared from local retailers. It is vastly superior and I wouldn't buy Luigi as long as Lindy is available.

I loved the old Luigi's formula. It always had in the bottom a thick wonderful almost syrup highly concentrated ice. Now that's gone. Also if you leave it in the freezer to long, it will develop disgusting gooey substance on the top.I've never tried Lindy, but now I will look for it.

As almost everyone else has said, Lindy's is by far the better tasting Italian ice. Luigi's has changed their formula and has a terrible chemical taste now. Lindy's (cherry/watermelon/raspberry/lemon) all have a more natural, flavorful taste. Its the closest I can get to the Italian ice I used to get as a kid when the trucks came down the streets!

Luigi's tastes like a frozen chemical stew. Lindy's watermelon tastes like real watermelon, Luigi's watermelon tastes like a Jolly Rancher. Lindy's has a consistency like real italian ice that you would get from a street vendor - much smoother than shaved ice/snow cone, but not overly soft either. Luigi's sherbert like mouth feel makes me thing there is too much of a stablizing/thickening agent ingredient like guar gum - you want to retain some icy-ness - like a snow ball after a fresh wet slushy snow. I only discovered this after mistaking Luigi's for Lindy's. I won't buy Luigi's if it was the only thing on the shelf. The kids didn't mind finishing off the Luigi's that I bought by accident, but never again!

Lindy's is definitely sweeter, slushier, and overall better. With that said, Luigi's is no slouch either. I agree that the it was a lot better years ago, but I'm particularly fond of the Chocolate flavor. It tastes like a Fudgesicle in a cup.

Anyone notice any difference in Lindy's lately? It's usually my favorite, but the ones I bought yesterday taste different, and are actually pretty gross. I had a few cups left over from the batch I bought before this one, and there is a definite difference. Not sure if they changed their recipe or if I just got a bad batch somehow, but I hope it's just a one-off thing. I hate Luigi's! If Lindy's goes down the drain, too, I don't know what I'll do! I guess go back to popsicles... sigh.

Lindy's is awesome!!! If you let it soften a bit before you eat it, the texture is amazing. I even put the container in the microwave for 20 seconds. My favorite is raspberry-lemon, but this year they have split the package with 3 strawberry-lemon and I don't really love that flavor. But even so, I still love it more than any of the Luigi's.

I have Lindy's and Luigis in my supermarket. I think they're moor of a national brand. Over here in new england however, we have the hands down winner by leaps and bounds: MARINOS ITALIAN ICE! Marinos always was the best, and they recently have been distributing 6 packs to supermarkets. In case you didn't remember Marinos, let me jog your memory... Think of the label, it was a yellow label with the roman warrior in green running along the cup. When we were kids they used to come in paper cups.